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Your boots squash with fetid water as you plod through the Puddles. A thick fog hangs in the air, seeming almost to caress the flesh with an unnatural chill. As you stand outside the Soggy Piper in a foot and a half of brackish brine, you try to recall what was so damned important to demand your presence in the half flooded slum during Absalom’s rainy season. You remember your meeting at the Lodge just a few hours earlier with your Venture-Captain, Adril Hestram.
A bear of a man with only a few teeth remaining in his head, he motioned you into the meeting hall with a casual wave of his grizzled hand. The human captain outweighs most of Absalom’s half-orcs, and though a layer of beefy blubber coats his frame, those of you who have tangled with him in the Lodge sparring ring know that beneath this thin veneer of fat lies nothing but solid, steely sinew. Adril’s wild beard wags to the ponderous shake of his massive head as he examines a scrap of ancient parchment on the table before raising his eyes to greet your
gaze and speaking:
“Come in then, friends, and thank you for answering my summons so swiftly. The society is in need. An old and quite penniless historian, a bespectacled wag-beard by the name of Yargos Gill has recently made a discovery in an old archive that we have a great interest in obtaining: an ancient codebook, left behind in the wake of one of Taldor’s many failed attempts at invasion. This several-hundred-year-old text would prove an excellent addition to our collection, and must be preserved."
He looks sternly at each of you as he lingers over the word "preserved"
“Yargos makes his home in ‘The Puddles,’ Absalom’s poorest district, suffering from a well-known reputation as a haven for lowlifes. Following an earthquake ten years ago, parts of the Puddles now rest below sea level, resulting in frequent and untimely flooding. Those who can afford not to live there—don’t. "
The grimace of the mans face makes it apparent that he is more than glad not to be heading there himself.
“The district is the stomping ground of pimps, harlots, addicts, knifers, and hoards of unseemly derelicts. It’s never been a kind place, but recent reports reveal some new nameless terror on her waterlogged streets. Several persons claim to have seen cloaked, skeletal-like figures marching through an unnatural fog. Ill tidings indeed. Tracking down Yargos is now a priority—--lest some yellow-toothed thug cut him down, or one of these strange wraiths carry him beyond the pale. Find him, fellow Pathfinders, and find the codebook. Your exploits will be recorded in the Chronicles if you succeed.”
The memory fades as a fresh deluge of cold seawater rounds a bend in the lane and assaults your knees. After searching for Yargos at his favorite eatery, the Soggy Piper, you learned you just missed him. According to the Piper’s staff, a gang of dangerous young tattooed toughs arrived ahead of you. They grabbed Yargos and several of his friends from their dinner table and dragged them to a nearby cliff at the edge of the Puddle District. The watch was called, but they will arrive too late, as they often do in the Puddles, when they bother to venture there at all...
It is early evening, the first Wealday of the month of Desnus, an old man is about to face some awful fate at the sea cliff known as Torsen’s Maw, and you are no closer to finding the codebook Adril sent you for
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Six brash young toughs covered with tattoos of vicious, snarling dogs are prodding four terrified older men off the edge of a cliff into the sea. The prisoners are shackled together in a line with heavy chains, which shall surely drag them to the sea floor in short order should they tumble from the cliff’s edge into the churning waters below!
(green area is grass and does not cause any movement problems)
Status, bold may post
Tsadok
Ziggy
Kaitanu
Thugs
Malika
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Kaitanu drops another of the thugs without breaking a sweat. Suddenly the odds are even!
One of the thugs at the back pushes an old man off the cliff in a fit of anger. Unfortunately the old men are all chained together and a...chain reaction.. takes place with one man after the next falling over the cliff. The last one, maybe an old warrior, manages to hold on to a small bush, but it doesn't look like he has long... just seconds.
The three other thugs close in on the pathfinders.
One scores a light wound on Tsadok.
Status, bold may post
Malika
Tsadok 3 damage
Ziggy
Kaitanu
Thugs (4)
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Tsadok looks at the man daring to stand next to him, and swings his greatsword at the fool
The war hounder slips under the blade, and returns the compliment by attacking Tsadok with his dog claw.
Just for good measure his two companions join him... beating up one person is always more fun than a fair fight.
The warrior manages to avoid their blows though.
Status, bold may post
Malika
Tsadok 3 damage
Ziggy
Kaitanu
Thugs (3)
Men dangling over the cliff (3)
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Ziggy, straining, pulls up another of the men. Meanwhile Malika bathes two of the remaining thugs in flame.
Kaitanu, distracted by the flames misses his throw. Tsadok batters at the last man with his sword.
His skill appears to be lacking, or maybe he too was feeling the heat.
The last thug, seeing the fate of his companions, turns tail and flees!
With the immediate threat gone, the team manages to pull up the remaining men with only moderate difficulty.
Combat over
Status,
Malika
Tsadok 3 damage
Ziggy
Kaitanu
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Cracking his neck and rubbing his shoulder, Ziggy walks over to the man he fell earlier, and pulls the knife from his skull. Casually cleaning the blade on the dead man's tunic before sheathing the blade into his belt, Ziggy looks towards the men he helped out.
So, might I ask as to why those men have you tied up and pushed you off the cliff?
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"Well.." says the old man
"I suspect it is due to one Nessian. Some time ago I found an old book, one that described a horrible plan by Taldor to attack Absalom. Which they did, many, many years ago. Obviously they failed. However the book described a group of spies who were tasked with disrupting the city from within. To make it easier to capture."
He shivers and looks at the cold cliffs that almost claimed his life.
"They operated in cells, with a signal light telling various operatives what their tasks was to be. A red light would have the Black Echelon poison the grannery. A violet light to destroy the bell towers and so on. Now, the leaders had been identified and taken care of, so no signal came. Unfortunately the echelon had sworn an oath known as The Binding Word. They must fulfil their duties, no matter the cost. It would seem this oath may have forced them into some type of existence beyond even the veil of death. "
Looking to his companions for support he adds. "I found the book describing the planned assault and the codes, and foolishly reproduced them. That was when the attacks happened. The story tells that the invading fleet also swore the same oath, and thus may still await in their watery graves to fulfil it. Anyway, I tried to alert the authorities, but before I could dispose of the book, a young crime lord by the name of Nessian stole it from me and intends to use it to disrupt Absalom and profit from the resulting Chaos."
His eyes glimmer.
"Now, the codebook did also have a master 'abort' sequence in it. Surely that would set everyone to rest... but I can't remember it!"
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Kaitanu begins to remove the shackles from the men. "Yargos Gill, I presume. We have been tasked to find you and your code book by the Pathfinder Society. It is unfortunate that you were not more careful with the information as it will now make our job harder. We will have to find this crime lord eventually, but first we need to get to the grannery. Was that the type of signal the Black Echelon would be looking for?" he says as he points to the red light he spotted.
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The flashing light is well across town. The granary is maybe twenty minutes quick hike through the streets.
"I know the way to the Granary" offers Yagos.
As you approach the granary, you find an eerie cold fog has suddenly descended on the adjoining streets and alley ways.
At the massive granary doors the three guards posted to protect the food depot are already dead and the doors stand open.
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Neither hears anything from the room to the north east, looking in they see a large room with piles of grain. The thin trail of blood still heads north.
The ceiling is 10' high, with hatches that presumably deposit grain onto the floor, or into wagons. A agile person, or a person with a long weapon could probably activate one if they wanted to.
Within the room is no sign of the assassins.
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Kaitanu slowly creeps into the room, scanning the area as he goes. He stops at the first row of grain to look into the west room as well as check the stairs and landing for anyone.
Kaitanu waves the others forward before moving to the opposite corner of the center pile in order to look into the northern room.
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Malaika detects no poison in this room, but Kaitanu does see three ghostly figures at the far end of the next room, silently rummaging through semi-spectral backpacks looking for who knows what...
They do not seem to be aware of the pathfinders... yet.
Status, bold may post
Malika
Tsadok
Ziggy
Kaitanu
Ghostly figures - 0 rounds doing nefarious stuff to the grain.
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Kaitanu shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head no as he whispers, "No idea. I hope our Aasimar friend there can help with them. Unless someone has a better idea, why don't I try to get into range to take a shot, then hopefully draw them back towards here where the rest of you will be waiting."
Kaitanu moves counter-clockwise around the NE pile of grain to try to stay out of sight for as long as possible. He then moves just inside the north room and waits for an opportunity to take a shot at the figure on the right.
After the shot, he moves back around the corner to the south room.